By A. Tsimplakis
[email protected]
The US ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, on Friday referred to the pending transfer, as he said, of the Neorion group shipyard on the Cyclades island of Syros to US-based Onex, which is controlled by Greek-American businessman Panos Xenokostas.
Pyatt made the reference while addressing the Navigator 2017 conference in Piraeus, while citing what he called interest by US firms in making investments in Greece’s shipping and maritime infrastructure sector (ports, shipyards), as well as in ocean-going shipping and energy.
“N” is a communications sponsor of this year’s conference, entitled “The Shipping Decision Makers Forum”.
Moreover, Pyatt also revealed US interest in the northeast port of Alexandroupolis, both in terms of commercial exploitation and in a future military role. A potential naval presence at the port of Alexandroupolis has only very recently surfaced. The small port in extreme northeast Greece, which is only a few kilometers west of the land border with Turkey, has emerged prominently on the wider region’s “energy map”, with that the TAP pipeline set to criss-cross the area, whereas a proposal to build a massive LNG terminal is also being pursued.
According to sources that spoke to “N”, the Onex group has come to an agreement with creditor banks and Neorion group to acquire a majority stake in the Syros shipyard for a symbolic fee of one euro. In terms of paying off the shipyard’s arrears to the state – the biggest financial liability burdening the troubled facility – Onex has reportedly requested a 250-month installment plan. The latter, according to information compiled by “N”, has been accepted, in principle.
Onex would assume some 40 million euros in liabilities currently accumulated by the closed unit, while also promising to pump in another 20 million euros in capital investment in order to upgrade and modernize the shipyard.
If multi-party negotiations come to fruition, as workers’ unions are also involved in talks with the potential new owner, then the Syros shipyard could reopen in 2018.
